According to reports, Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) looking to return to the city-state will also have to present a valid negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report obtained within 72 hours prior to their departure for Singapore, starting from 11.59 pm tomorrow.
Singapore's ministry of Health annaounced that all citizens and permanent residents will only be allowed to board their flights to Singapore on presenting the negative test results before departure, except for those who have stayed in lower-risk countries and regions in the last 21 days.
The lower-risk countries and regions are Australia, Brunei, mainland China, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau, according to Singaporean media reports.
The Singapore government has recently said on an average, 25 passengers, mostly Singaporean citizens and PRs, were returning home daily from India.
"All travellers will also be required to present their valid COVID-19 PCR test result at the air, sea and land checkpoints when they arrive in Singapore," the ministry said.
Those who arrive in Singapore without a valid COVID-negative report may be denied entry, it added. Permanent residents and long-term pass holders who fail to comply may also have their permits or passes cancelled, the ministry warned.
Cargo drivers and other accompanying people transporting goods between Singapore and Malaysia will continue to be subjected to an on-arrival rapid-antigen test at the Tuas and Woodlands (land) checkpoints. They will only be allowed to enter Singapore if they receive a negative test report. They will not be required to take a pre-departure PCR test, the ministry said.
Since November last year, Singapore has required all long-term pass holders and short-term pass visitors entering the country to present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test report obtained within 72 hours before their departure.
The health ministry said it has put in place advisories on overseas travel for "some time now", and that Singaporeans and PRs abroad "would have had more time to manage the risks of COVID-19 in the countries that they are in".
Travellers from lower-risk countries and regions are either required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival in lieu of a stay-home notice or serve a seven-day stay-home notice at their place of residence with a COVID-19 test administered at the end of the notice.
Travellers who test positive on their COVID-19 PCR test should seek appropriate medical care and ensure that they have fully recovered and are non-infectious before travelling to Singapore, the ministry said.
"Singaporeans who test positive for COVID-19 while overseas and require urgent medical care in Singapore can still return to Singapore via a medevac flight or other equivalent forms of conveyance," it added.
The ministry said the multi-ministry task force has been closely monitoring the global COVID-19 situation and regularly reviewing border measures.
"In recent weeks, the global situation has worsened and we have observed the emergence of new and potentially more infectious variants. To manage the risk of imported cases and onward transmission within our community, we will be updating our pre-departure testing requirements," it said.
Singapore reported 26 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday – 23 in the community, one in a dormitory housing foreign workers here and two imported infections.
